Figures in a loggia below an elaborately stuccoed cupola, a courtyard beyond

The underlying pen work of the present drawing, most notable in the virtuoso handling of the figures, can be attributed to Francesco Guardi, as may some of the brown wash, while Giacomo seems to have added the areas of darker grey wash. Examples of pen drawings retouched by his son (who inherited his extensive studio) were first discussed by James Byam Shaw, The Drawings of Francesco Guardi, London, 1951, pp. 50-51. Other drawings showing this collaboration are in the Robert Lehman Colection, New York, J. Byam Shaw and G. Knox, Italian 18th Century Drawings in the Robert Lehman Collection, New York, 1987, nos. 34-6, and formerly in the Henry Oppenheimer Collection, London, sold Christie's, London, 10 July 1936, lots 95-100.